Final Thoughts on Maverick’s

Quite a day at Maverick’s yesterday. You won’t find a more popular contest winner than Twiggy Baker, who was surrounded by well-wishers, admirers and fellow surfers throughout his visit to the Festival site afterward. And let me point out an error in this morning’s Chronicle piece. Baker’s prize money wasn’t $50,000, but a mere $12,000 — even more penetrating evidence that big-wave surfers are ridiculously underpaid.

Although they’d love to be earning big coin, these guys don’t really care — not at their core. They’d ride these waves for nothing, and almost to a man, there’s a grace and humility to their demeanor, some of the best people you’d ever hope to meet. I got this e-mail this morning from reader Greg Tellis, who truly understands:

“A guy named Twiggy triumphed over the posturing in all other professional sports. Mr. Big Shot? The outfielder who stares down the pitcher…the quarterback who pats his opponent on the ass…the hoopster who taps his heart…the soccer star that slides in triumph while raising his arms to the sky. You’re never gonna get my love, because we just saw the standard for cojones in athletics. Want to know the best part? Surfers know, better than anyone, that they’re NOT higher than any star above.”

For more details on the contest, check the piece I wrote for surfline.com, alongside some killer photos from a number of top shooters.

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If you’re reluctant to let go of that big-surf mood, pay a visit to the Coastal Arts League Gallery on Main Street in Half Moon Bay, featuring the annual Everest of the Seas photo exhibition. The display features some of the best surf photographers in the business, including Bob Barbour, Rob Brown, Seth Migdail and Don Montgomery, and the Maverick’s stuff is just mind-blowing. The exhibiton runs for weeks, but the highlight figures to be Saturday night (Feb. 1), when the photographers and many top surfers — among them Jeff Clark and Grant Washburn — will greet visitors at a champagne and wine-tasting party from 5-8 p.m.. Nice work by Ed Grant, once again, in organizing the exhibition.

(And, yes, that’s Maverick’s with an apostrophe. The Chronicle insists on removing it, but the Chronicle — as well as the Maverick’s website — is wrong. It does look sort of dumb, like a cafe advertising “Free Sandwich’s.” But the place was named after a dog named Maverick. If surfers wanted to call a spot Wally’s Reef, it would be just that. Apostrophe required.)